Bulgaria Expansion

Members of Bulgaria's Green Party have called on the country's Minister of Environment, Nona Karadzhova, and her Deputy, Evdokiya Maneva should resign along with the Director of the National Office for Nature Conservation, Mihail Mihaylov, after the government gave the go ahead to ski area development in the UNESCO World Heritage site, the Pirin National Park.

Local media reports that Green Party protesters gathered in the country's capital, Sofia, and claimed the facilities have been built by an 'off shore company' with unknown owners but that it's public bodies were the same as Vitosha Ski, another off-shore company running Vitosha mountain.

"These are companies that have received millions from unauthorized state funding from the previous cabinet," Andrey Kovachev, Co-Chair of the Greens, told local media, added that the current government is supporting the same companies.

Mr Kovachev said the new ski facilities violate the UNESCO Convention concerning the protection of world cultural and natural heritage.This is the latest in a long-running campaign between Bulgarian environmental activists and international ski resort developers in the country. Previous protest led to the sacking of the former Director of the Pirin National Park, Georgi Grancharov.

Mr Kovachev said the Greens would make weekly protests about the government's position and if nothing changed would take the matter to the EC Government which he said could stop all funding of the country.